Glossary Term – Event

Glossary Term – Event

Denmark Vesey, a former slave who had purchased his freedom after winning a lottery, organized an insurrection in Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1822. After several slaves informed their masters of the plot, 131 blacks were arrested and thirty-five hanged.

Glossary Term – Person

Denmark Vesey (ca. 1767–1822) was a former slave who planned a major insurrection in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1822. Vesey, who may have been born in Africa, purchased his freedom after winning the lottery in 1799. Vesey spent more than twenty years living as a free man and working as a carpenter in Charleston. Around 1817 or 1818, Vesey began planning a major uprising of thousands of slaves and free blacks. The insurrection was planned for July 14, 1822, but before it could be carried out, a slave Vesey had tried to recruit informed...

Glossary Term – Person

Henry Clinton (1730–1795) was the commander in chief of the British army from 1778 to 1782. Clinton was sent to the colonies in 1775 to serve under General Thomas Gage. When Gage was replaced by William Howe, Clinton assumed second in command. Clinton was responsible for the British success at Long Island in 1776 that nearly trapped Washington’s army. After Howe resigned in 1778, Clinton became commander in chief. In 1780, Clinton succeeded in capturing Charleston, but that victory was soon overshadowed by Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown...

Glossary Term – Place

Charleston (originally Charles Towne), South Carolina, was established by British colonists in 1670. As a major southern harbor and one of the colonies’ largest port cities, Charleston became important strategic positon during the American Revolution. The city was controlled by patriot forces until British forces under Sir Henry Clinton sieged the city and forced the surrender of American general Benjamin Lincoln in spring 1780.